Ice shaving machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for producing shaved ice for use in making ice confections comprises an upright housing which includes a thermally insulated chamber for storing ice in chunk form, and a motor driven rotor located at the lower part of the chamber that includes blades on the upper face thereof which shave the ice and deliver it through a slot into a chamber from which it is ejected by centrifugal force into a discharge outlet. The rotor is removably attached to the motor shaft by fastening means accessible from the interior of the ice chamber so as to permit the rotor to be easily removed for cleaning of the rotor as well as the interior of the ice chamber.

United States Patent [72] Inventor John Royals 2,181,000 1 H1939 Shively241/92 21 E. Seminary Ave.,Lutherville, Md. 2,665,852 1/1954 Shively241/257X 21093 2,684,207 7/1954 OBrien. 241/92 [21] Appl. No. 781,5503,051,401 8/1962 Huck 241/257 [22] Filed Dec. 5,1968 Prim, E Th E C d yxammereron on on [45] Patented 1971 Assistant Examiner-Robert L. SpruillAnarneyPierce, Scheffler and Parker [54] [CE SHAVING MACHINE 9 Clams 10Drawmg ABSTRACT: A machine for producing shaved ice for use in [52]U.S.Cl 241/92, making ice confections comprises an upright housing which241/257 includes a thermally insulated chamber for storing ice in [5 1Int. Cl B02c 18/12 chunk form, and a motor driven rotor located at thelower part [50] Field of Search 241/91, 92, of the chamber that includesblades on the upper face thereof 46.1, 188,257,(lce Digest)(RElMDigest); which shave the ice and deliver it through a slot into a146/108, 114, 124 chamber from which it is ejected by centrifugal forceinto a discharge outlet. The rotor is removably attached to the motorReferences Cited shaft by fastening means accessible from the interiorof the ice UNITED STATES PATENTS chamber so as to permit the rotor to beeasily removed for 2,033,903 3/1936 Smith 92 cleaning of the rotor aswell as the interior of the ice chamber.

h I x r, if 1 3 1: 3.

t -/0 r I [4 2'1 l 5,; A

x44 f 1; '1' I I .96 4/ I LI 4944 3 0 35% l 2 3 1 54 3 f 6 l I I l 3 .aa3? ma 5: x u- 49a, a 7 "6 I; 22 i a L i 454 i Lit" 3/ 20 jlzLkl". i fis. 1:, 051- 1,, V f l 5a L? l I 1 1 m Ill PATENTEU JAN 5 l9?! SHEET 1 UF3 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS PATENTEU JAN 51% 3,552,663

sum 2 OF 3 INVENTOR Jo? n R03 4 L9 w WZQPMLA,

ATTORNEYS PATEWEBJAN 5191: 3552,6653 SHEET 3 OF 3 1/11 1/ 1 I r I 1 11,1 1/ /3 INVENTOR ohn Royals BY mu, JMPMAM ATTORNEYS ICE SIIAVING MACHINEThe present invention relates to machines which produce finely shavedice from chunks of ice, the shaved ice being used in the production ofconfections comprised of the ice and a flavoring syrup. I

Machines of this type have beenknown for some time and consistessentially of an insulated housing providing a vertically disposedchamber and at the bottom of which is located a motor driven rotorcarrying one or move shaving blades. Ice in shaved form is thendischarged from the chamber through a discharge spout into a confectioncone or other suitable container in which the syrup flavoredconfection'is to be formed. A typical known construction is disclosedin-U.S. Pat. No. I,992,783 issued in the name of Ralston R. Smith.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improvedconstruction which permits the ice shaving rotor to be easily removedfrom its chamber thus making it more easy to clean the rotor and thechamber in which it operates.

Another object is to provide an improved connection between the rotorand the drive shaft of the motor which has an inherent insulatingcharacteristic. Since the rotor temperature is comparatively low due toits contact with the ice, the insulative character of the connectionretards a flow of cold to the motor casing and shaft which otherwisemight result in undesirable condensation on the motor.

Yet another object is to provide-an improved contour for the floorof theice chamber below the rotor where a water drain is located, the floorbeing sloped toward the drain but the low point of the floor beingslightly offset from the location of the drain hole itself in order toavoid accumulation of mineral scale at the hole itself which mightotherwise clog the drain.

Still another object is to provide an improved construction for the iceshaver rotor itself. The rotor is disconnected from the motor shaft at apoint within thechamber and is provided with at least one and preferablytwo diametrically opposed radial slots which enable the rotor to belifted out of its chamber after it has been disconnected from the motorshaft, these slots making it possible for the rotor to move past theradial fin or baffle which is provided in the chamber to prevent thechunks of ice from rotating therein during operation. Also, the upperand lower walls of the rotor which are spaced from each other to definea shaved ice receiving groovelike chamber, and from which the shaved iceis thrown due to centrifugal action into the outlet spout are soconstructed that the groove enlarges in a radially outward direction tominimize the chances for clogging and also to prevent water fromstanding on the surfaces of the rotor.

Still another object is to provide an improved outlet spout for theshaved ice, the outlet increasing progressively in cross section towardthe discharge end which facilitates discharge of the shaved ice andprevents clogging.

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages inherent in theinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of one suitable embodiment and the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of the ice shaving machine in perspective;

FIG. 2 is a view of the machine as seen in central vertical section;

FIG. 3 is a view in transverse section taken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in transverse section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view in transverse section FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a detail showing the switching actuating mechanism forstarting the machine;

FIG. 7 is a detail showing a portion of the bottom wall of thecompartment in which the ice shaver rotor is located;

FIG.8 isasection on line 8-8 ofFIG. .7;

FIG. 9 is a detail showing a portion of the ice shaver rotor in topplan; and

FIG. 10 is a section on line 10-10 ofFlG. 9.

taken on line 5-5 of With reference now to the drawings. the ice shavingmachine is seen to be comprised ofan outer housing I0 which may have anydesired configuration. As illustrated. the housing has a generallyrectangular configuration and is provided with a spaced wall, insulatedlift-offtop cover 11. An inner wall structure 12 shown in FIG. 2 isspaced from the outer housing 10 and the void between the two is filledwith any suitable heat insulating material 13 so as to prevent loss ofheat through the walls and melting of ice chunks stored in the machinewhen the latter is not is use. Thisinsulating material 13 may be a glasswool or it can be of thecast foam type which is poured into the spacebetween" the two walls through openings, not shown, provided in thebottom wall of housing 10 and allowed to harden. 1 The inner wallstructure 12 comprises an upper portion 14 of rectangular configurationwhich serves'as a storage compartment for ice chunks and which isconnected by a tapered transition wall 14a to a cylindrically configuredwall ISof sheet metal which together with a lower cylindricallyconfigured cast wall part 16 establishes a rotor chamber I7 in which thechunks ofice are shaved. The chamber wall part I5 is provided with a fin15a extending radially inward which serves to keep the charge of icechunks in the chamber from rotating as the rotor rotates, thusbringingabout a better shaving action. I i

The lower portion 18 of the inner wall structure is cast metal anddefines a chamber part .l9 for receiving an electric motor 20, the motorbeing mounted in the chamber by means of bolts 21 which pass throughlugs 22 on the motorhousing into a transverse wall part 23. The .driveshaft 24 of the motor extends vertically upward through anopening 25 inthe transverse wall 23 and is connected to the ice shaving rotor 26located in the lower part of chamber 17 by means of a coupling member 27made from any suitable heat insulating material such as a hard resinousplastic which can be machined. Y

The coupling member 27 includes an axiallyextending bore 28 forreceiving the motor shaft 24, the latter being provided with a flatagainst which two longitudinally spaced Allen screws 29, 30 are seated,these screws being passed through corresponding transverse bores 31 32in the wall, of the coupling member. To fasten the coupling member 27 tothe motor shaft, the lower Allen screw 29 is run down to a point whereit touches but does not bind against the flat on the rotor shaft. Thismakes it possible for the coupling member 27 to be placed in its properposition on the motor shaft from within the chamber 17. The upper Allenscrew 30is then run down to a binding position on themotor shaft thus tolock the coupling member securely to the shaft, it being noted thattheupper screw 30 is readily accessible since it is located at a levelabove the floor of the chamber 17 established by a transverse wall part16a provided with a central opening [612 for passage of the couplingmember 27.

The upper part of the coupling member 27 terminates in a portion 33 ofslightly reduced diameter which passes into a central bore 34 withinrotor 26. Relative rotation between the coupling member and the rotor isprevented by use of a conventional key and slot connection between thetwo, the key being indicated at 35. In order to maintain the rotor 26 onthe upper part 33 of the coupling member, it will be seen from FIG. 2that a round end plate 36 covers the central part of rotor 26, thediameter of the plate 36 being slightly larger than the central bore 34,and that a crew 37 having a knurled head 37a to facilitate gripping bythe fingers ispassed through the center of end plate 36 and screwed intoa threaded axial bore 38 provided in the upper end of thecoupling'member. To prevent any water from leaking between the 'underface of the end plate 36 and the adjacent upper face of the rotor, an O-ring 39 is provided to establish the necessary seal.

The ice shaving rotor 26 includes upper and lower plates 4], 42 spacedfrom each other and .whichform thcrebetween a pair of oppositelydisposed chambers '43, 44 for receiving ice as it is shaved from thechunk ice by a pair of oppositely located knife blades 45 which arefastened in place by screws 46 to the upper plate 41 at an angle to theface of the plate, the leading, cutting edge 45a of each knife bladebeing positioned adjacent a slot 47 in the plate, as seen in FIG. 10, sothat the ice as it is shaved from the ice chunks is forced into thechambers 43, 44, and due to the centrifugal force exerted thereon ispassed outwardly through an opening 48 in the wall 16 located betweenthe rotor plates 41, 42. Developed from this opening teristic for anywater which might tend to accumulate on the latter, and a similardownward slopeon' the inside surface of the lower plate 42 serves twofunctions, one function being to develop the progressively increasinginterior space between the two plates and the other being. to provide agood drain-off for water.

The floor of the combined ice and rotor-chamber 17 is provided with adrain for any water which may form by melting of the ice chunks. Thedrain structurewill be seen clearly in FIGS. 7 and 8, the chamber floorbeing established by the transverse wall 160 which is cast with a slopetowards one side atwhich a drain opening 50 is located.

One end of a flexible drain tube 51 is fitted into this opening, and thetube extends downwardly through the lower chamber l9 and thenceoutwardly through an opening in the chamber wall to a discharge point ina-trough 52 which extends across the lower front portion of the overallhousing structure.

Preferably, the lowermost point in the surface of transverse wall 16a islocated not exactly at the drain opening 50 but rather is offsetslightly from such opening so that any residual moisture which mayremain on the'floor surface will tend to collect at this low pointrather than at the lip of the drain opening itself. The advantage ofthisis that any mineral scale which may tend to develop from residualmoisture will form at the low point where it cannot do anyharm ratherthan at the drain opening itself which could lead to clogging of thedrain by a buildup of the scale. Water reachingthe transverse wall 16ais prevented from flowing downward through the central opening 16b bymeans of an annular lip 16c formed at the central portion of the walladjacent the opening 1612.

Operation of the machine is controlled by means of a switch mechanism 53located on the front wall of the machine to one side of the dischargespout 49. The switch mechanism is actuated by a lever 54 having a topflange 540' which is adapted to be engaged by the rim portion of thecontainer into which the shaved ice is to be delivered. As the rim ofthe container is inserted beneath the flange 54and pushed upwardly,lever 54 will be caused to pivot in an upward direction until it strikesagainst the contact actuating member 53a of the switch thus causing theswitch contacts to close and energize motor 20 which then causes therotor 26 to turn at a relatively high 7 speed and effect the ice shavingoperation.

The switch arrangement is such that so long as the container is heldunder the spout, the motor will continue to run. As soon as thecontainer has been filled with the desired amount of shaved ice, it islowered, thus releasing lever 54 from the switch member 53a whichresults in opening of the switch contacts and deenergization of motor20.

As previously explained, a principal objective of the present inventionis to facilitate cleaning of the machine and a major structural featurerelated to this objective is that one is able to remove the rotor fromits chamber in 'a've'ry simple manner. All that is necessary is that theend retaining plate 36 be removed by removin screw 37 thus freeing therotor 26 for removal in an upwar direction from the coupling member 27.Since the diameter of the rotor is just slightly under that of thechamber R7, the rotor is provided with one, and preferably two radialslots 55 which extend inwardlyfrom the periphery of the rotor in orderto enable the rotor to pass the radially inwardly projecting fin 15a inchamber If two slots 55 are provided, these are located at diametricallyopposite points on the rotor so that in the event of a jam up in themachine the rotor will need to be turned by hand through only a halfturn at the most inorder to bring one of the slots 55 into alignmentwith fin 15a. The dual slot arrangement also provides betterdynamicbalancingof the rotor. Y

lclaim: I

l. in a machine for producing shaved ice, the combination comprising avertically disposed housing structure including a thermally insulatedupper chamber for receiving and storing ice in chunk form, a motormounted within said housing structure below said ice chamber, said'motorincluding a drive shaft extending vertically upward through a centralopening in the bottom wall of said ice chamber, a coupling member madefrom a material having a low heat transfer coefficient secured at itslower portion to said motor drive 'shaft, an ice shaving rotor locatedin the lower part of said ice chamber and including upper and lowervertically spaced circular plates, said upper plate including at leastone slot therein and an adjacently located knife for shaving anddelivering the ice through said slot to a chambered portion establishedbetween said plates, said rotor further including a .central borereceiving the upper end portion of said coupling member, removable meansoperable from within said ice chamber for retaining said rotor upon theupper end' portion of said coupling member thereby enabling said rotortobe disconnected from said coupling member and removed upwardly throughsaid ice chamber for cleaning and a dischargeputlet for shaved icelocated adjacent the periphery-of said rotor intermediate said upper andlower plates.

2. A machine as defined in claim I for producing shaved ice wherein thedistance between the confronting surfaces of the upper and lower platesof said rotor is progressively increased in a radially outward directiontov fa'cilitateejection of shaved ice into said discharge outlet. a

3. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice wherein theinner surface of the lower plate of said rotor has a downward slope in aradially outward direction.

4. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice wherein thetop surface of said upper plate has a downward slope in a radiallyoutward direction.-

5. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice 5 adapted tobe brought into alignment with said fin to enable said rotor to beremoved upwardly through said chamber.

6. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice wherein saidmeans for retaining said rotor upon the upper end portion of saidcoupling member includes an .end plate larger than the central bore insaid rotor and screw means extending through said end plate into athreaded bore in the end of said coupling member.

7. A machine as defined in claim 6 forproducing shaved ice and whichfurther includes a sealing ring clamped between the underface of saidend plate and the surface of said rotor.

8. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice wherein the'bottom wall of saidlice chamber slopes in the direction of a drainopening located at one side of said chamber, and the low point of saidbottom wall is displaced from said drain opening.

9. A machine as defined in claim 1 forshaving ice wherein said dischargeoutlet for shaved ice includes a spout which progressively enlarges inthe pass-through direction of the ice.

1. In a machine for producing shaved ice, the combination comprising avertically disposed housing structure including a thermally insulatedupper chamber for receiving and storing ice in chunk form, a motormounted within said housing structure below said ice chamber, said motorincluding a drive shaft extending vertically upward through a centralopening in the bottom wall of said ice chamber, a coupling member madefrom a material having a low heat transfer coefficient secured at itslower portion to said motor drive shaft, an ice shaving rotor located inthe lower part of said ice chamber and including upper and lowervertically spaced circular plates, said upper plate including at leastone slot therein and an adjacently located knife for shaving anddelivering the ice through said slot to a chambered portion establishedbetween said plates, said rotor further including a central borereceiving the upper end portion of said coupling member, removable meansoperable from within said ice chamber for retaining said rotor upon theupper end portion of said coupling member thereby enabling said rotor tobe disconnected from said coupling member and removed upwardly throughsaid ice chamber for cleaning and a discharge outlet for shaved icelocated adjacent the periphery of said rotor intermediate said upper andlower plates.
 2. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shavedice wherein the distance between the confronting surfaces of the upperand lower plates of said rotor is progresSively increased in a radiallyoutward direction to facilitate ejection of shaved ice into saiddischarge outlet.
 3. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producingshaved ice wherein the inner surface of the lower plate of said rotorhas a downward slope in a radially outward direction.
 4. A machine asdefined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice wherein the top surface ofsaid upper plate has a downward slope in a radially outward direction.5. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producing shaved ice wherein saidice chamber includes a fin which projects radially inward from thechamber wall and said rotor includes at least one slot extendingradially inward from the periphery thereof adapted to be brought intoalignment with said fin to enable said rotor to be removed upwardlythrough said chamber.
 6. A machine as defined in claim 1 for producingshaved ice wherein said means for retaining said rotor upon the upperend portion of said coupling member includes an end plate larger thanthe central bore in said rotor and screw means extending through saidend plate into a threaded bore in the end of said coupling member.
 7. Amachine as defined in claim 6 for producing shaved ice and which furtherincludes a sealing ring clamped between the underface of said end plateand the surface of said rotor.
 8. A machine as defined in claim 1 forproducing shaved ice wherein the bottom wall of said ice chamber slopesin the direction of a drain opening located at one side of said chamber,and the low point of said bottom wall is displaced from said drainopening.
 9. A machine as defined in claim 1 for shaving ice wherein saiddischarge outlet for shaved ice includes a spout which progressivelyenlarges in the pass-through direction of the ice.